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Michigan House holds hearing to join NPVIC, one step closer to electing POTUS by popular vote [1]

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Date: 2023-03-08

We all remember how badly we felt after the 2016 election. Despite Hillary Clinton winning the national popular vote by 2.9 million votes, she did not become president. Only 80,000 votes in three states (including Michigan) gave Donald Trump his Electoral College victory.

The NPVIC is an agreement among states to award their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the national popular vote. But it only takes effect after enough states totaling 270 electoral votes have joined.

Since Maryland in 2007, the following states have joined the NPVIC: New Jersey, Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Vermont, California, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, New Mexico, and Oregon.

In 2019 we came very close to passing legislation in Nevada (where both houses approved it) and in recent years we cleared one chamber in both the Maine and Virginia state legislatures. In 2020, Colorado's law joining the compact was approved by the voters after opponents forced a referendum.

In other words, the progress has been encouraging, but we have already won the “low-hanging fruit” of blue states. We need to expand this effort into purple and even red states. This should not be a partisan issue—it’s about the will of the people. As 16 former Republican-elected officials said in a joint letter to the Michigan state legislature last week:

The [National Popular Vote] compact does not abolish, alter, or amend the Electoral College. Those who claim otherwise are either uninformed or deliberately politicizing this simple, logical nonpartisan reform that makes every voter in every state relevant. ... Today, Michigan utilizes a winner-take-all method that has no basis in either the state or federal constitution. Further, this method was not prescribed by our Founding Fathers. In fact, Michigan and the other states have used a variety of methods since the country’s first presidential election. Throughout our respective political careers, we have seen Michigan’s status as a battleground state rise and fall thanks to the ebb and flow of national partisan politics. By enacting the compact, the Legislature ensures that the impact of each and every vote cast here in Michigan equals that of any and all votes cast in every other state in presidential elections.

But it will be a tough fight, one that has been politicized by partisans who currently benefit from the status quo where the popular vote loser sometimes wins. This is why we must pass legislation in Michigan and Minnesota this year; both states currently have a Democratic trifecta with a governor and legislature.

Afterward, achievable states in the coming years are Maine, Nevada, Virginia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. If we pass the NPVIC in all of these states, we will finally reach the 270 target, and we will finally elect our president by national popular vote. Let's win in Michigan and Minnesota this year as we fight to improve our democracy.

If you live in Michigan, urge your state representative to vote “yes” on HB 4156 and your state senator to vote “yes” on SB 126 by sending them a letter here.

If you live in Minnesota, urge your state representative to vote “yes” on HF 642 and your state senator to vote “yes” on SF 538 by sending them a letter here.

Sign the petition: Elect our president by national popular vote.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/8/2156756/-Michigan-House-holds-hearing-to-join-NPVIC-one-step-closer-to-electing-POTUS-by-popular-vote

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